Hello! Welcome to my Blog! Living on a shoe string budget is not always easy! Coming up with cheap, delicious recipes to feed your family, even harder! But with a little imagination and a whole lot of love ANYONE can create delicious meals that the whole family will love!!!
I decided to create this blog to help you along the way... Much like the “peddler” in the story of “Stone Soup”!
THE STONE SOUP STORY
Once upon a time, in a small village in Europe somewhere, there was a great food shortage throughout the land. People hungrily hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbours. One day a peddler drove his wagon into a village, sold a few of his wares, and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told, rather rudely, "Better keep moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He then pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing the rumour of food, most of the villagers had come out to the square or watched from their windows. As the peddler sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their uncertainty.
"Ahh," the peddler said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup! Of course, stone soup with CABBAGE -- that's hard to beat!"
Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a small cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Splendid!" cried the peddler. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of SALT BEEF as well, and it was fit for a king!"
The village butcher managed to find some salt beef...
And so it went; potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all! The villagers where so surprised, they offered the peddler a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell it and he traveled on the next day.
